Acute and Chronic Exposure
There is no sharp dividing line between rapidly developing acute effects of lead, and chronic effects which take longer to acquire.
Lead Poisoning from L.A. Battery Recycling Plant
Lead adversely affects numerous body systems, and causes forms of health impairment and disease which arise after periods of exposure as short as days or as long as several years.
Chronic long-term overexposure to lead can cause peripheral muscle weakness, pain, and paralysis of extremities, disruption of hemoglobin synthesis and anemia, loss of kidney function, increased blood pressure, kidney disease, reduced sperm count and male sterility, and increase the risk of cancer.
Respiratory illness caused by fume and smoke inhalation and exposure to heavy metals, such as lead, are of particular concern in shipyard workers. Excess cancer morbidity has been detected in several groups of shipyard workers, especially cancers of the respiratory system, with welders appearing to be at particular risk.
Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.
1-6. Which shipyard workers are at particularly high risk of cancer of the respiratory system from exposure to lead?
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